FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Transcription

1 FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF ENGLEWOOD November 2, 2014 Eleven o clock LIVE boldly SHARE boundlessly GROW community BUILD God s world THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME ALL SAINTS COMMUNION THE GATHERING The service of worship begins with the prelude; quiet is requested as you enter the sanctuary and prepare for worship. In the spirit of Christian fellowship, we invite you to wear a name tag which is available from the greeters. As a community that prays with and for one another, we invite you to share your joys and concerns by using the prayer cards available from the ushers and in the pew racks. Those parts of the Service of Worship in which the congregation participates in word or song are noted in bold type. Please stand as you are able. PRELUDE Prelude on Sine Nomine Leo Sowerby * HYMN 526 For All the Saints Sine Nomine * CALL TO WORSHIP (based on Psalm 107): Leader: O give thanks to the LORD; God's steadfast love endures forever. People: Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, those who were redeemed from trouble. Leader: They cried to the LORD in their trouble People: The LORD delivered them from their distress. Leader: Let them thank the LORD for God's steadfast love, for God's wonderful works to humankind. People: For the LORD satisfies the thirsty, and the hungry are filled with good things.

2 INTROIT Rejoice! Be glad! How great will be your reward in Heaven. Proulx WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS MINUTE FOR MISSION CALL TO CONFESSION PRAYER OF CONFESSION Eternal God, when we hear the criticism Jesus had for the scribes and the Pharisees, we wonder what has changed. People still demand preferential treatment, still abuse positions of authority. Forgive us when we inflate our egos at the expense of others. Forgive us when we care more for impressive appearances than loving attitudes. Renew and refresh us, leading us to be followers of Jesus not only in name, but in reality. In the name of Christ we pray. PRAYERS OF SILENT AND INDIVIDUAL CONFESSION WORDS OF ASSURANCE Leader: Friends, believe and proclaim the Good News: in Jesus Christ, love breaks through hatred, hope breaks through despair, life breaks through death. People: In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven, loved, and set free. Thanks be to God! Amen. * CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE Hymnal No. 579 Gloria Patri Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen. * EXCHANGE OF PEACE Leader: Let us open our hearts to one another as Christ has opened his heart to us, and God will be glorified. People: The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (Exchange Signs of Reconciliation and the Peace of Christ with your neighbor - e.g., The Peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Response - And also with you. )

3 + Children and Youth leave for Church School Classes. + PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION THE WORD FIRST LESSON Micah 3:5-12 ANTHEM Cantata 106 God s Time is the Best Time J. S. Bach SONATINA CHORUS Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit. In ihm leben, weben und sind wir, solange er will. In ihm sterben wir zur rechten Zeit, wenn er will. God's time is the very best time. In him we live, move and are, so long as he wills. In him we die at the right time, when he wills. ARIOSO CARSON BAKER, TENOR Ach, Herr, lehre uns bedenken, daß wir sterben müssen, auf daß wir klug werden. Ah Lord, teach us to think that we must die so that we become wise. CHORUS WITH SOLO SANDRA RUGGLES, SOPRANO Es ist der alte Bund: Mensch, du mußt sterben! Ja, komm, Herr Jesu, komm! It is the old covenant: Man, you must die! Yes, come, lord Jesus. come! SECOND LESSON Matthew 23:1-12 SERMON Authority Rev. Richard S. Hong * NICENE CREED We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men,

4 and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end. And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And we believe one holy catholic and apostolic church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. THE OFFERING OFFERTORY Cantata 106 Part II J. S. Bach ARIA IRIS KARLIN, MEZZO-SOPRANO In deine Hände befehl ich meinen Geist; du hast mich erlöset, Herr, du getreuer Gott Into your hands I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, Lord, you faithful God ARIOSO AND CHORUS RYAN ALLEN, BASS Heute wirst du mit mir im Paradies sein. Today you will be with me in paradise. Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin In Gottes Willen, Getrost ist mir mein Herz und Sinn, Sanft und stille. Wie Gott mir verheißen hat: Der Tod ist mein Schlaf geworden. With peace and joy I travel on in God's will, my heart and mind are confident As God has promised me: death has become my sleep

5 * THE DOXOLOGY Old Hundredth Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise God all creatures here below. Praise God above, ye heavenly host. Creator, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen. PASTORAL PRAYER THE CELEBRATION OF THE LORD S SUPPER THE INVITATION THE GREAT PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING Pastor: People: Pastor: People: Pastor: The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. People: It is right to give our thanks and praise. Pastor: Eternal and ever-living God who forever sing to the glory of your name. SANCTUS 568 (choir and congregation) Weaver Pastor: Holy God, in Your mercy Let us proclaim the mystery of faith: People: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. Pastor: We take this bread and wine and joyfully celebrate this Holy Sacrament.... And now, with the confidence of the children of God, let us pray: People: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.

6 THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORD S SUPPER Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me. Revelation 3:20 All who trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior are invited to participate in this celebration. BREAD: To be taken individually, symbolic of your personal commitment to God through Jesus Christ. CUP: Please wait until all are served, symbolic of your corporate belonging together in the body of Christ. Grape juice is the fruit of the vine used in our celebration of the sacrament. COMMUNION HYMN (In bulletin) Jerusalem, The Golden PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION THE SENDING OUT * HYMN 451 Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones Lasst Uns Erfreuen * BENEDICTION CHORAL POSTLUDE Cantata 106 Final Chorale J. S. Bach Glorie, Lob, Ehr und Herrlichkeit Sei dir, Gott Vater und Sohn bereit, Dem heilgen Geist mit Namen! Die göttlich Kraft Mach uns sieghaft Durch Jesum Christum, Amen. Glory, praise, honor and majesty be given to you God father and son, to the Holy Spirit by name! God's strength make us victorious through Jesus Christ. Amen. Our worship ends with the conclusion of the Postlude. (It is the custom of our church to remain seated. Those who wish to leave may do so.) * * * * *

7 NOTES ON THE MUSIC Cantata No. 106 Actus Tragicus / J. S. Bach ( ) We know of no definite date for the Actus tragicus, but its style seems to suggest the very beginning of Bach s career as a composer of vocal music, the time when he was organist of the Blasiuskirche in Mühlhausen Here he did not compose weekly cantatas; rather the works were necessitated by specific occasions (in this case, perhaps the funeral of his uncle). The text is an amalgam of free poetry, much biblical verse (notably from the Psalms, Isaiah, Luke and Revelation) and two Lutheran chorales. Despite the early date, the work is a masterpiece of the seventeenth century style of text-setting. The first half of the cantata is concerned with the inevitability of death while the latter section shows that the new Christian message cancels the old covenant: death leads to union with Jesus and eternal life. Incidentally, it is only in the second part that we hear chorales, symbolic as they are of the new, Christian. The opening instrumental Sonatina, warm and hushed, illustrates an important metaphor of the cantata, relating death to a peaceful and welcome sleep. In the first chorus the passage of time is beautifully captured on the word weben [move]: endless wavering eighth note motives are passed from voice to voice. The subject of death is introduced amid troubling chromaticism. There is extensive solo writing for all four voice types in this cantata. The tenor asks for help in understanding death, again making use of pleading, wide intervals. Scurrying recorders are the sole accompaniment to the bass stark warning of impinging death. The choral fugue on the words Es ist der alte Bund ( it is the ancient law ), is something which by its very style points to the past; then the soprano enters with a completely new theme ( Ja, komm, Herr Jesu ), in a more contemporary musical style, which introduces the first reference to the New Testament. The recorders soon join in with a Lutheran chorale melody Ich hab mein Sach Gott heimgestellt which reminds any listener familiar with the chorale of its message: one should place one s entire trust in God. In the next section words of Psalm 31 (sung by the alto) bring us comfort in the face of death. The cello makes a difficult climb up the scale and plays the repeated wavering half steps associated with death - effortful, but somehow less troubled than before. The bass, who earlier had sung the most uncompromising text of the piece, sings of the arrival in Paradise (that word colored by an appropriately high range). The final chorus manages both intimacy and grandeur. In the instrumental prelude, the motive that has until now been marked by downward wavering half steps is now inverted to suggest a sense of spiritual triumph. The chorus enters majestically accompanied by instrumental off-beats, like heavenly heart beats. A light, brilliant choral fugue ends the piece, with the final Amen echoed by the instruments very softly - a sublime finish to a very great work. * * * * *

8 TODAY S SCRIPTURE READINGS Micah 3:5-12 (NRSV) Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry Peace when they have something to eat, but declare war against those who put nothing into their mouths. 6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without revelation. The sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; 7 the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God. 8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. 9 Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob and chiefs of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert all equity, 10 who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with wrong! 11 Its rulers give judgment for a bribe, its priests teach for a price, its prophets give oracles for money; yet they lean upon the LORD and say, Surely the LORD is with us! No harm shall come upon us. 12 Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height. Matthew 23:1-12 (NRSV) Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses seat; 3 therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. 6 They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, 7 and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. 9 And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father the one in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted. * * * * *

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